The Further I'm Away
by PallaPlease
Summary: A somewhat AU-ish Sirius/McGonagall fanfic with a bit of an odd premise and a great deal of overdone melodrama.  Fun, no?  [Complete]


The Further I'm Away  
Sirius Black/Prof. McGonagall  
  
AN: Let's pretend McGonagall went to school in the same years as the Potters, Black, Pettigrew, Lupin, and Snape (blech). Let's also pretend her first name is Marianne-my BF's mom's name is that, and I love that name. Let's also pretend that this actually scores higher than -35 out of 10, 'kay?  
  
I apologize to those who find my desire to write Sirius and McGonagall together as a couple to be insane. I also apologize if I get McGonagall's hair color wrong! *^.&*   
  
Required To Have Read: Prisoner of Azkaban (you might also need a Kleenex if you happen to be very, very, very, VERY teary about pathetically written lovey scenes.)  
  
***  
***  
  
"Wow," Sirius breathed, tracing the footsteps of a teenaged girl with square glasses and black hair twirled into a bun.  
  
James raised an eyebrow at his fellow fourth year's dreamy-eyed expression. "Sirius, it's just Marianne. Not like she's, you know, drop-dead gorgeous." Gauging by the faraway glint in Sirius's chocolate brown eyes, he hadn't heard a solitary word. Sighing and rolling his eyes, James waited patiently until a nervous, chubby boy with an undistinguished mop of dirty blonde hair seated himself to Sirius' left.   
  
"Hey, Peter, ol' chum!" the Potter boy greeted him from across the table, knocking their companion out of his adoring appearance.   
  
"Peter?" he managed to ask, somewhat dazed, obviously thinking of catlike Marianne McGonagall.  
  
Both of the two other boys made gagging motions.   
  
"Knock it off," defended Sirius gruffly, cheeks turning a light red color. "I can't help it."  
  
"Look out, he's gonna start lecturing on the many marvelous beauties of Marianne McGonagall again," James muttered, sending Pettigrew into barely stifled snickers, biting his tongue while James hid his face behind a book on Quidditch, choking on his bread. Tossing his shoulder-length hair, Sirius scowled.  
  
"Hi, guys, did I miss anything?"  
  
Remus Lupin beamed at his closest allies, his cheerful smile fading slightly as he noted the embarrassed looks on James and Peter's faces, as well as the dark frown on Sirius'.   
  
"Uh, do I *want* to know?" asked Remus, unsure of whether to run far away, very fast, or to sit down and pray to God Sirius' wouldn't attack him rabidly. Sirius grumbled something, face heated and flushed.  
  
A cheery clatter to James' right broke the uncomfortable moment.  
  
Thusly Lillian saved the day.  
  
And sent James into a chorus of "uh"s and "um"s.  
  
Looking worriedly from James to Sirius, she clucked her tongue.   
  
"James, stop sputtering, it's not polite," she ordered, "and Sirius, you look awfully sick." Both squirmed, the former from nervousness, the latter from her eagle-eye scrutiny.  
  
Finally, as Peter and Remus quickly and quietly made their escape, her thoughtful features brightened.   
  
"Hey, Marianne!"  
  
Looking up from a thick tome, light clouds of dust enveloping it, she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.  
  
"Sirius looks kind of flushed. Come over here and tell me your opinion!" chirped Lillian and James coughed into his hand, attempting-and failing-to hide a devilish grin, his close friend slumping over, a butterfly feeling bubbling around the realm of his stomach.   
  
The rapid beating of Marianne's heart belied her facial front of calmness, radiating collected and cool intelligence as she confidently strolled over to the admittedly handsome boy known as Sirius Black. Unevenly cut black hair-dark brown on closer expression-fell around his miserable, heated face and she swallowed thickly. Mentally noting to never trust Lillian with her personal desires and crushes again, she, hesitatingly, touched Sirius' chin and firmly tipped his face toward her.  
  
Immediately falling into those nerve-wracking, deep brown eyes.  
  
"I, uh, I think he's…p-perfectly fine," Marianne stammered, snatching her hand back and hurriedly backing away.   
  
James kicked Sirius from under the table, motioning urgently with his head for Sirius to move toward the retreating girl.  
  
Lillian did almost the same thing, except instead of kicking McGonagall's shin, she hastily tossed a heavy napkin at Marianne, considerably gentler than a swift movement of one's foot.  
  
Swinging his legs over the bench, Sirius tried to compose his nerves, falling short almost pathetically. With a shaking hand, McGonagall tried to smooth her hair, primly standing in place while the slender, tall fourteen-year old approached her.  
  
"Uh, Marianne…" He gulped. What to say, what to say, what to say…. "I was wondering…"  
  
"Yes?" She looked up at him, eyes bright and shyly curious.  
  
"If we could…you know…"  
  
"We haven't got all day, y'know!" James cried rudely, silenced by a decidedly threatening look from Lily.  
  
Both teenagers turned an interesting shade of pink.  
  
"We could hang out together," Sirius finished, cringing as he waited for a stinging retort from his unreachable love.  
  
"Really?"  
  
Okay, that wasn't what he'd expected…  
  
Hazel eyes shining hopefully, the girl wanted to pull him into a hug, but her self-pride and dignity held her just inches from doing so.  
  
Relieved, he nodded.  
  
In the background, Lily hit James on the side of his head with her Potions textbook.  
  
^^  
  
"I swear, if I have to smile for one more Muggle photographer," Sirius Black gritted through his smiling white teeth, standing faithfully in his position behind James Potter, Marianne McGonagall silently agreeing from her own spot behind the new Mrs. Lillian Potter.  
  
After what seemed like eternity, the man winked with a grin. "That's all!"  
  
Obvious relief shown through on all four faces.  
  
While Mr. and Mrs. Potter glided away, love struck and blissful on their flirtatious little cloud, Marianne sidled up next to the strikingly handsome best man, gloved hands tucked behind her back, nervously fiddling with the bow on the back of her maroon skirt.   
  
"So…," she began, voice trailing off.  
  
"So…," he echoed, glancing at the reflective surface of his black shoes. Out of the corner of his eye, Sirius watched the glass-wearing young woman as she lifted one hand to push her glasses up in a gesture he'd loved from the day she'd anxiously awaited the Sorting beside him.  
  
Out on the floor, Lillian and James were dancing slowly, staring mesmerized at each other.   
  
Softly, under his breath, Sirius chuckled, amused. Noting the confused look on his companion's face, he tried to explain.  
  
"James always made fun of my, ah, crush on…uh, you…so, it's kind of uplifting to see him acting like a blind idiot. Especially with his best friend," he finished, jerking his thumb in their direction.  
  
"Ah," she said simply and they fell silent once again.  
  
Suddenly aware of the close proximity of her, Sirius focused very hard on not thinking about his object of affection, standing a mere two inches away from physical contact.  
  
He thought over that plan for a moment.  
  
To hell with *that* idea.  
  
Startled, she switched her gaze from the floor to where he had, without warning, interlocked his fingers with hers. Glancing up into his face, the young woman was caught off guard by the look of pure honesty and longing written into his beautifully carved features, every curve of his face and every twist of his hair burned into her mind. The usual mischief and clever disguise of innocence on him was shed, leaving only this strangely lingering glimpse at the true Sirius Black.  
  
"Sirius…?" Her voice sounded like one from several years ago, back during a certain lunch period in her fourth year. Uncertain, yet eagerly wishing with immense fervor that what she dreamed was becoming reality.  
  
"There's something I want to tell you," he whispered softly, gently pulling her around, through the crowd. In a reclusive corner of the chapel, Sirius guided her into a chair.  
  
Then he fell to one knee.  
  
Her breath catching in her throat, Marianne McGonagall, top student at Hogwarts during her seven years of attendance, felt a bubble of joy swell up in her heart.  
  
"Will you marry me?"  
  
Any other words he would have spoken to reinforce the simple question, to convince her he was worthy, were cut off, lost in a deep kiss, breathless and tumultuous.   
  
Within a matter of seconds, a simple silver band was placed on Marianne McGonagall's finger.  
  
^^  
  
"The accused is charged guilty of assisting He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named in the murder of Mr. and Mrs. James Potter. Sentence: life in Azkaban. Court is dismissed. Send in the dementors."  
  
Silent, heartbroken sobs wrenched through her, her thin frame racked by the force of each salty heave. Eyes red with the tears, she mumbled something, the syllables unintelligible through her garbled speech.  
  
"Marianne, I didn't do it!" His eyes were pleading, caressing. Even as the dementors approached, silent and soulless, he continued to watch her. His cries fell to broken whispers, shadowed and torn. "Marianne, I love you."  
  
Those words engraved themselves in her soul. Crying soundlessly as he was dragged out, watching her over his shoulder, infinitely sad and infinitely innocent, she pushed past the sneering Severus Snape, stumbling away from the newly formed room of unbearable pain.  
  
Rubbing the silver band on her finger, she sniffled, cheeks puffy and red.   
  
The pain was worse than a feel of hatred or desperate futility-it was an ache inside that would never leave, a numb hollowness.  
  
Lillian and James were dead, the lover she was to marry sentenced for aiding in their murder, the child Lillian had loved with all her being given to a horrible family that pretended she didn't exist.  
  
Marianne had to teach at Hogwarts the next day. The sympathetic glances from the staff and the rumors created by students would be unable to bear.  
  
She knew Sirius was innocent.  
  
Nobody else could believe it.  
  
That night, Marianne McGonagall became Professor McGonagall, stern and protective of each and every student to enter her classroom, unbiased and unfeeling to any who saw only the surface.  
  
^^  
  
Harry Potter's expression of delight when McGonagall handed him the Firebolt was more than enough reward.  
  
Silently, she walked slowly through the halls, half-smiling as each twist and turn of the corridors brought up a memory of her own years as a student. Her and Sirius' first kiss, shy and awkward, the time when Sirius and James tricked her and Lillian, each memory wistful, but joyous.  
  
She paused in the hallway.  
  
One day, she knew, she would be with Sirius, the way they always should have been.  
  
^^  
  
End AN: Like? Dislike? Love? Hate? Tell me! 


End file.
